House Speaker Mike Johnson opted to stick with his spending deal despite pressure from conservatives to renege, starting a sprint to avoid a partial government shutdown next week.
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, argued that the deal, which slashes $16 billion from IRS spending and pandemic-era slush funds, was an “important part of keeping the government running” ahead of a Jan. 19 deadline to fund the government.
“Our top-line agreement remains,” he said Friday. “We are getting our next steps together, and we are working toward a robust appropriations process. So stay tuned for all of that.”
Conservatives from the House Freedom Caucus spent the week urging Mr. Johnson to walk away from his $1.66 trillion deal with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.
They argued in hours of closed-door meetings with the speaker that the deal didn’t cut spending enough or secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
Rep. Byron Donalds, a Freedom Caucus member from Florida, felt it was a “bad move” for Mr. Johnson to stand by the deal.
The Schumer-Johnson pact is virtually the same as the debt ceiling accord negotiated by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden, but Mr. Donalds said he couldn’t stomach Mr. Johnson’s new offering because it included billions from a side agreement that raised overall spending.
“Why would I be beholden to a deal I didn’t cut and I’m not even aware that wasn’t in the written text of the law?” Mr. Donalds said. “Why would I support that?”
Now Congress has to move swiftly to avert a government shutdown. Neither the House nor Senate has made progress on passing spending bills before next Friday’s deadline. Four bills must be completed and signed by President Biden or a partial shutdown will ensue.
Those spending bills include legislation for transportation, agriculture, energy, water and veterans. The Senate has passed three of those, while the House has advanced two.
The Senate has teed up a vote next week on a stopgap bill that could last until early March and cool fears of a partial shutdown. Mr. Johnson has not publicly committed to moving ahead with a short-term measure in the House.
Another spending wrinkle is that appropriators have been waiting for the heads of the House and Senate appropriations committees to negotiate numbers for each of the dozen spending bills since the Schumer-Johnson deal dropped.
Rep. Andy Harris, who chairs the agriculture appropriations subcommittee, told The Washington Times that he would not support another stopgap bill but was unsure whether his spending bill would be ready by next week.
“I don’t know if it’ll be done by January 19,” the Maryland Republican said. “Ask Chuck Schumer why he delayed this so long. Ask him why he’s only got three bills through the Senate.”
Rep. Tom Cole, who chairs the transportation appropriations subcommittee, said he hopes to get numbers for the remaining bills this weekend, but was supportive of another short-term extension to give appropriators more time to finish their work.
“Believe me, this will get resolved a lot faster than the top line,” the Oklahoma Republican said, “because you’ve got four people that really know what they’re doing.”
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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